


Get Your Head in the Game

by JustDreaming



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Basketball Player Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Basketball Player Mark Lee (NCT), Basketball Player Suh Youngho | Johnny, High School Musical - Freeform, Jaehyun is Troy Bolton, Jock Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is a Little Shit, M/M, Taeyong is Gabriella, haechan is Sharpay obviously, nct 127
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 09:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24967624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustDreaming/pseuds/JustDreaming
Summary: High School Musical AU with NCT 127Lee Taeyong and Jung Jaehyun are Breaking Free
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 13
Kudos: 37





	Get Your Head in the Game

**Author's Note:**

> This is literally just the entire High School Musical script but rewritten for NCT 127. Therefore I take no responsibility for how cringe the speech is (that's on the writers not on me). However I am fully responsible for the spelling and grammar mistakes (I am a native English speaker and even I do not understand tenses)
> 
> This is for myself and Jung Jaehyun who both love Troy Bolton

Start of Something New

Taeyong hadn’t particularly wanted to go skiing over the winter break. He was not really fond of winter sports but the view from the ski lodge where he sat reading and drinking hot chocolate the entire time, had definitely been a highlight. The last night of their vacation was New Year’s Eve, and like most of the holiday, Taeyong was sat in an armchair reading again. 

His mom came up behind him, wearing a long fancy dress and sighed upon seeing him.

“Yongie, it’s New Year’s Eve, enough reading,” she said taking the book away from him.

Taeyong chased the book with his hands, “But mom I’m almost done-,” he tried to argue but his mom cut him off with a look.

“There is a teen party downstairs that I want you to go to. I’ve laid some clothes on your bed, come get ready.” His mom was final with her words, it was futile for Taeyong to argue but as he trudged upstairs to their room he at least managed to get his book back.

… 

Jaehyun’s entire life revolved around basketball. And so, when he wasn’t snowboarding, he spent most of the trip with his dad shooting hoops in the gym inside the ski lodge. New Year’s Eve was no exception.

Jaehyun’s mom walked into the room to find him and his father yet again playing basketball.

“BOYS,” she raised her voice to combat the noise of them playing. “Did we really fly all this way to play more basketball?” she asked incredulously, dressed ready for the evening. 

Jaehyun and his dad, turned to look at her slightly guiltily but still nodding.

‘It is New Year’s Eve! You need to get ready for the party and you too Jaehyun. There is a kid’s party downstairs,” his mom demanded.

“A kid’s party?” Jaehyun asked, distaste obvious.

“For young adults. Now go, shower up. Both of you!” she said before turning around to walk out the room. 

Jaehyun and his dad did one final play before they did what they were told, not wanting to upset Mrs Jung any further. 

…

When Taeyong entered the party, he smiled at a few of the other teenagers he had seen around the ski lodge but made his way over to an empty seat to finish his book. The party was quite crowded and a couple were up on stage singing karaoke. Taeyong didn’t mind though as he quite easily could block out the background noise to finish the final chapter of his book. He hadn’t got much further though before a bright stage light was shining right into his eyes. A couple of the boys around him grabbed his arms to pull him up from his seat and lightly pushed him to the stage.

There was already boy on stage, another teen who had been forced up. The nerves started to kick in and he wrapped his arms around himself protectively. He wasn’t used to singing in front of crowds and especially not crowds of strangers. The song started up. It was one Taeyong often heard played on the radio called ‘Something New’. As the song started the boy next to him took the first verse. Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to look at the other boy but he had a really good voice, making him feel even more intimidated.

As his verse was about to the start the other boy looked ready to walk off stage, not expecting that Taeyong was actually going to sing. Taeyong didn’t know how he found the confidence to do so but he managed to start singing his verse. As the song got into the chorus, the crowd started to cheer them along, giving the two boys the confidence to carry out singing. By the end of the track Taeyong was in disbelief that he had managed to sing in front of all the other teenagers and that they had received such a good response. The boy opposite him was smiling just as much as he was.

“Jaehyun,” the boy opposite introduced himself, holding out his hand.

Taeyong shook it and introduced himself as well.

Together they made their way outside, both collecting a mug of free hot chocolate and going to watch the fireworks to signal the start of the New Year.

“Seriously you have an amazing voice,” Jaehyun told him, making Taeyong blush, “I’m guessing you’re a singer?”

Taeyong laughed. “Only church choir, I tried to take a solo before but one look at the crowd and I almost fainted.”

Jaehyun was shocked. “With the way you sang tonight, that’s hard to believe. You sounded incredible.”

“That was the first time I’ve done anything like that. But it was so cool! You sound like you’ve done a lot of singing too,” Taeyong directed back.

“Yeah, sure. My showerhead is very impressed with me,” Jaehyun joked making Taeyong laugh. 

The two were cut off from talking any further by the sound of the countdown from 10 before the fireworks went off above them. They stared at each other with the snow falling around then, both unsure of what to do next.

“Well I better go find my mom and wish her a happy New Year’s,” Taeyong said, gesturing behind him.

“Yeah, me too. I mean my mom not your mom. My mom. And dad.” Jaehyun awkwardly laughed. “Hey, I’ll um call you tomorrow, if you want to put your number in?”

Jaehyun and Taeyong swapped phones putting in their numbers and both taking a selfie to go along with the contact. They swapped back. Jaehyun stared at the photo Taeyong had taken.

“Tonight, was the most fun I’d had in forever. So, um where do you live?” Jaehyun asked but when he turned around Taeyong had already disappeared. 

Getcha Head in the Game

Just a week later, East High had already started again. As Jaehyun made his way off the bus he saw Johnny and Mark throwing a basketball around, surrounded by the rest of their team and some cheerleaders. 

Johnny looked up and saw him first. “Hey Jaehyun,” he ran over and threw his arm around him, followed by the rest of the team.

“Happy New Year’s Everyone.” Jaehyun greeted, slapping hands with a few of the other players.

“Yeah man. It’s going to be a happy wildcat new year! Because in two weeks we’re going to championships with you leading us to infinity and beyond,” Johnny stated excitedly.

As the team made their way through the doors, Haechan pushed their way past them, shoving between Johnny and Mark, whilst looking down at his phone quickly followed by his brother Taeil.

“The ice princess has returned from the North Pole,” Mark joked gaining laughs from those around them as they made their way into homeroom.

…

As Taeyong and his mom walked the hallway of East High, his stomach started to feel sick with nerves of starting yet another new school. Taeyong’s mom seemed to be able to sense this wordlessly. 

“Don’t worry honey. I promise this is the last time you have to start again at a new school. I told the company they cannot transfer me until you graduate.” She said taking his face in her hands.

“I just don’t want to be the freaky genius boy again mom,” Taeyong sighed looking down.

“Then just be Taeyong”, she replied, kissing his forehead. She waved Taeyong goodbye as he made his way down the corridor to homeroom. 

As he walked into the room, Taeyong went up to the teacher at the front and gave him a slip of paper he had gotten from the principal before making his way to an empty seat at the back, oblivious to the commotion of the room. 

“Listen up everybody,” the man at the front of the classroom commanded, making everyone take their seats. “I trust everyone had splendid holidays. Please do check the sign-up sheets for new activities, especially for our winter musicale” he said before explaining more of the opportunities they had on offer. 

Just then Taeyong’s phone went off. He dug in his bag to quickly turn it off but was shocked to see it was a message from Jaehyun.

“There is a zero-tolerance policy for mobile phones in this school.” The teacher came up behind Taeyong before he could read the message properly, taking the phone from him as well as a number of others. “That includes you too, Mr Jung. You can all get your phones back in detention.”

A boy up near the front of the class started to protest. “That’s not possible Mr Taemin, Your honour. You see Jaehyun has basketball practice-.” 

“That’s 15 minutes for you too Mr Suh, count them” Mr Taemin cut him off before he could argue further. 

“That’ll be tough for Johnny, seeing as he probably can’t even count that high,” a blonde boy sitting behind Johnny whispered to those around him. 

“Yuta Nakamoto, 15 minutes.” Mr Taemin scolded as well. “Shall the carnage continue? The holidays are over people!”

Taeyong was shocked. He could hardly concentrate on all the people in this homeroom getting detention because he was pretty sure sitting at the front of the room was the boy he had met on vacation. That combined with the fact Jaehyun had just text him made it all the more likely. The bell rang to signal the end of class and Taeyong quickly packed up his bag. He wanted to find Jaehyun and talk to him, but the former was already waiting for him outside the class.

“Hey,” Jaehyun said grabbing Taeyong’s arm.

“I don’t-.”

“Believe it.”

“Well me.”

“Either. But How?” Jaehyun finished.

“Well my mom’s company transferred her here to Albuquerque. I can’t believe you live here and that you go to this school,” Taeyong said. “I looked for you in the lodge on New Year’s Day”.

Jaehyun lowered his voice when he responded. “Sorry, we ended up leaving first thing.”

“Why are you whispering?”

“What? Oh well my friends know about the snowboarding trip but not um about the singing.” Jaehyun said sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.

“Too much for them to handle?” Taeyong responded sarcastically.

“No, it was cool. Just for them like…they’d see me as a different person.” 

The two stop around the corner in front of all the sign-up sheets. 

“Anyway…welcome to East High. I bet after you met Mr Taemin in class you are just cannot wait to sign up for that.” Jaehyun joked, lightening the mood, gesturing at the sign up for the winter musical. 

“I won’t be signing up for anything for a while. I just want to get to know the school. But if you were to sign up I would definitely come to the show,” Taeyong responded.

Jaehyun laughed at that. “Yeah, yeah. That’s completely impossible.”

The pair are interrupted as someone leans up against the sign-up sheet that is in front of them. When Taeyong looks up he notices it’s a boy from their homeroom, dressed head to toe in pink, a smile plastered on his face.

“What’s impossible Jaehyun? I didn’t think impossible was in your vocabulary.” The small and pretty boy’s eyes dart to look at Taeyong. “How nice of you show our new classmate around. He then turns towards the sheet where in big, pink lettering signs his name, Lee Haechan, under the pairs audition section. 

“Oh, were you going to sign up too? My brother and I have starred in every school production and we really welcome newcomers. There are a lot of supporting roles, I’m sure we can find something for you.” The boy, Lee Haechan, smirked. 

“No, no. I was just looking at all the bulletin boards. Lots on offer here at this school.” Taeyong responded smiling at Haechan. “Nice penmanship.” Taeyong turns to smile at Jaehyun before walking off to his class.

As Jaehyun turns to go as well, Haechan comes closer to him.

“So Jaehyun. I missed you this vacation. What did you do?” Haechan flutteres his eyelashes at Jaehyun.

“Y’know, basketball, snowboarding…more basketball,” Jaehyun laughed politely. 

“When’s the big game?” Haechan asked not giving up the conversation.

“2 weeks.”

“Uh, you are so dedicated. Just like me. I hope you will come to watch me in the musical. Promise?” Haechan looked at Jaehyun with big eyes. 

Jaehyun felt compelled to nod in reply before walking away to class, missing the glare that Haechan was sending in the direction of Taeyong.

… 

Once on the court, Jaehyun couldn’t stop thinking about Taeyong asking about him auditioning for the musical.

“So, dude. You know that musical thing um do you get extra credit just for auditioning?” Jaehyun asked Johnny who was bent down tying his laces.

“Extra credit? Do you think Lebron James auditioned for his school musical for extra credit? The music in these shows is not good music like hip hop or rock. Ok. It’s like show tunes and costumes and make-up. Which is just frightening,” Johnny finalised.

“Yeah, I know, just though it might be a laugh, you know. Plus, Haechan is kind of cute,” Jaehyun tried to find an excuse for why he asked.

“So is a mountain lion.” Johnny passed the ball to Jaehyun. “But you don’t pet it.”

Practice started up but Jaehyun still couldn’t stop thinking about the musical. He needed to get his head in the game.

…

Haechan was watching Taeyong from across their lab bench, whilst the latter was busy copying the equation from the board.

“So, it seemed like you knew Jung Jaehyun,” Haechan eventually asked.

Taeyong shrugged. “Not really. He was just showing me around.”

“Well. Jaehyun doesn’t usually show people around”

Taeyong carried on working out the equation. “Why not?” Part of him was definitely intrigued to discover other student’s perceptions of Jaehyun but his attention stayed on the board. 

“Well. It’s pretty much basketball 24/7 with him.” Haechan replied but Taeyong wasn’t listening.

“Shouldn’t that say 16 over pi?” He voiced out loud, gaining attention of the teacher. “Um sorry just I think that should say 16 over pi.”

The teacher checked the equation on their calculator and agreed. “I stand corrected, thank you Mr Lee.”

Haechan narrowed his eyes at Taeyong whilst the latter basked in the praise.

After class Haechan made his way over to where his brother was waiting for him. 

“Jung Jaehyun was just looking at the audition list.” Taeil informed him.

“Again? You know he was hanging around with that new boy this morning and they were both looking at the list. There’s something freaky about him, I just know it.” Haechan narrowed his eyes again before making his way to the computer lab, Taeil following behind. A quick search of Lee Taeyong brought up a number of news articles about Taeyong’s academic successes.

“Wow. An Einstein. So why do you think he is interested in our musical?” Taeil asked, as Haechan printed the news articles out.

“I’m not sure that he is. And we needn’t concern ourselves with amateurs. But… there is no harm in making certain that Taeyong’s welcome to school activities are appropriate to him. After all, he loves pi,” Haechan smirked.

… 

“Paint! Paint! Let’s go people” Mr Taemin made his way across the stage where detention was taking place involving painting the props needed for the winter musical. “More gold!” he directed to Jaehyun and Johnny who were up in a tree prop whilst painting it.

Taeyong was sat painting a moon when a boy from his homeroom came up to him.

“The answer is yes!” Not noticing Taeyong’s confusion he carried on. “Our scholastic decathlon team has its first competition coming up and there is certainly space for you.” The boy finished waving the papers in his hands around.

“Where did you get those from?” Taeyong asked grabbing the papers and seeing articles about himself.

“You didn’t put them in my locker?” The other boy asked.

Taeyong shook his head.

“Well anyway we would love to have you on our team. We meet almost every day after school. I’m Yuta by the way.” 

“I’m sorry but I think I need to focus on catching up on the curriculum before I join any clubs.” Taeyong apologised.

“But what a perfect way to get caught up,” a voice came from behind Taeyong. 

Taeyong turned to see Haechan from earlier standing behind him with another boy next to him. 

“Meeting with the smartest kids in school, what a generous offer Yuta.” Haechan smiled at Taeyong.

“Enough chatting, more painting people! So many new faces in detention today but let’s not make a habit of it. While we are working let us probe the mounting evils of cell phones. Perhaps the most heinous of cell phone crimes is ringing in the theatre. What temerity! The theatre is a temple of art, a cornucopia of creative energy,” but before Mr Taemin could lecture any further he was interrupted by Coach Jung coming through the back of the auditorium. 

“Where’s my team Taemin?” Coach Jung shouted, marching forward. ‘And what the hell are those two doing in a tree?!” His voice caused Johnny to jolt awake from where he had been falling asleep and both boys to jump down.

“It’s called crime and punishment Jung. Besides, proximity to the arts is cleansing for the soul,” Mr Taemin responded. “Stop trying to get special treatment for your team.”

…

“What was with the detention today Jaehyun?” Coach Jung asked his son as they played basketball in their back garden after school. They were still working on the new moves they’d been trying in the ski resort.

“It was my fault. I’m sorry.” Jaehyun apologised, shooting the ball and missing the hoop. “Hey dad. Um did you ever think about trying something new, but you were worried about what your friends might think?”

“You mean like going left? You’re doing fine, c’mon.” Jaehyun’s dad tried to start the game again.

“No like, I mean you wanna try something really new but it’s a total disaster so all your friends laugh at you?” Jaehyun asked, not letting the conversation go.

“Well then they’re not really your friends. And that was my whole point in practice today, you’re a team. You guys have to look out for each other and you’re the leader.” Jaehyun tried to interrupt his dad but to no avail. “There’s going to be college scouts at the game next week, Jae. You know what a scholarship is worth these days? So, focus c’mon.”

Jaehyun realised talking to his dad about this was a losing battle so instead shoots again, this time the ball landing in the hoop. 

What I’ve been looking for

“Well I expect we all learnt our homeroom manners yesterday, people, correct?” Mr Taemin addressed them all the next morning. “Now a few announcements, this morning during free period is your chance for the musicale auditions, both singles and pairs.”

This announcement greatly excited Haechan who clapped to himself.

“I will be in the theatre until noon for those bold enough to extend the wingspan of your creative spirit.”

“What time is she due back to the mothership?” Johnny whispered to Jaehyun from behind him. 

…

Jaehyun made up an excuse to get out of the basketball practice that morning so that instead he could go watch the auditions during the free period. It was obvious that Johnny didn’t buy the excuse he was just going to go and finish some homework and so Jaehyun ended up having to sneak himself into the auditorium, hiding at the back, behind the janitor’s trolley. 

Mr Taemin stood on the stage with a student standing next to him, the former giving the instructions for auditions. 

“First, you will sing a few bars and I will give you a sense of whether or not the theatre is your calling. Better to hear it from me now than your friends later. Our composer, Kim Doyoung will accompany you and be available for rehearsals prior to call-backs. Shall we?” Mr Taemin announced and made his way down to the table to watch the auditions. 

Jaehyun hid at the back during the singles auditions, where almost all of them ended in disaster and Mr Taemin dismissing them. Whilst he was watching, Taeyong came up behind him.

“Hey! So, you decided to sign up for something?” Taeyong said, startling Jaehyun.

“Um…no. You?” Jaehyun said, coming out from his hiding spot. 

“No. Why were you hiding behind a mop? I’m guessing your friends don’t know you’re here, right?” Taeyong said. 

“Right,” Jaehyun agreed.

The two of them turned to stare back at the stage to see a girl completely freeze up in stage fright.

“Thank you. NEXT,” Mr Taemin shouted and the girl fled the stage.

“Mr Taemin is a little…harsh,” Jaehyun said sheepishly.

“The Wildcat superstar’s afraid?” Taeyong laughed.

“No! No…not afraid just scared,” Jaehyun joked and Taeyong agreed.

Mr Taemin caught their attention again from the front of the auditorium. “And for the lead roles we only have one couple signed up. I think this might be useful to give us a sense of why we are gathered in this hallowed hall.”

Haechan and Taeil got up from where they were sitting, causing Jaehyun and Taeyong to quickly duck down in the stalls at the back. The pair made their way to the stage, Haechan in front.

“What key?” Doyoung asked Taeil as they walked across the stage.

“Oh, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement.” Taeil replied and sauntered off.

From their hidden position at the back, Jaehyun and Taeyong watched as Haechan and Taeil performed an upbeat version of the song everyone else had auditioned with, complete with a dance routine. The two of them were intimidatingly impressive, clearly pros at theatre productions. After the performance they walked off stage, with the confidence that they were going to get the parts. Taeyong and Jaehyun shared a knowing look.

“Any last-minute sign ups?” Mr Taemin called, starting to pack up his things. “No? Good. Done.” As he made his way up the auditorium, Taeyong jumped out.

“I would like to audition, Mr Taemin.”

“Timeliness means something in the world of theatre, mister. The individual auditions are long, long over and there are simply no other pairs.” Mr Taemin shrugged making his way to leave.

“I’ll sing with him.” Jaehyun surprised both the other two, stepping out from his hiding space as well. 

“Jung Jaehyun?” Mr Taemin asked incredulously. “Where is your sports posse or whatever it’s called?” 

“Team. But I’m here alone actually. I came to sing with him.” Jaehyun shrugged.

“Yes, well, we take our shows very seriously here at East High. I called for the pairs audition and you did not come. Free period is now over. Perhaps the next musicale.” With that Mr Taemin walked out of the auditorium. 

Up on the stage, as Doyoung went to collect his things and go, he ended up tripping over the piano and throwing the musical sheets on the floor. Almost instantly Jaehyun ran up to help him pick everything up, with Taeyong just behind him.

“So, you’re the composer then?” Jaehyun asked but Doyoung just stared at him, wide eyed. “And you wrote the song and the entire show?” Jaehyun tried again.

This time Doyoung managed a nod in response. 

“So why are you so afraid of Haechan and Taeil then? It is your show,” Jaehyun asked.

“It is?” Doyoung asked back.

“Yeah. You’re the composer so you’re the playmaker. The one that makes everyone else look good. Without you there is no show.”

The compliment made Doyoung manage a weak smile. “Do you guys want to hear how the duet is meant to sound?” Without waiting for a response, he made his way over to the piano and started a slower rendition of the song that Haechan and Taeil had just performed.

Looking at the lyrics sheet that they had just picked up from the floor, Jaehyun and Taeyong joined in with Doyoung’s playing, singing along. When the song was finished, there was a shout from the back of the auditorium. 

“Jung. Lee. You guys have a call-back. Doyoung give them the duet from the second act and work on it with them.” Mr Taemin called to them. 

Stick to the Status Quo

Haechan’s scream echoed around the school the next morning. 

“CALLBACKS?!” He shouted in disbelief. 

“Call-back for the roles of Arnold and Mickey next Thursday 3:30pm, Taeil and Haechan Lee, Taeyong Lee and Jung Jaehyun.” Taeil read from the notice board.

“Is this some kind of sick joke? They didn’t even audition,” Haechan moaned. 

“Maybe we’re being punked? Maybe we’re being filmed right now! Maybe we’ll get to meet Ashton-.”

“Oh, SHUT UP TAEIL,” Haechan cut him off and stomped his foot 

Laughter could be heard from behind him.

“What’s wrong Haechanie?” Johnny laughed coming forward to see what Haechan and Taeil were looking at, but his laughter quickly stopped upon seeing what was written.

“This is so unfair,” Haechan groaned before stalking off, Taeil hot on his heels.

…

The news of the call-backs quickly made its way around East High. By lunchtime the entire cafeteria was talking about the news that star basketball player Jung Jaehyun was auditioning for the lead in the spring musical. Haechan anxiously paced the balcony overlooking the lunch hall. 

“How dare he sign up! I’d already picked out the colour of my dressing room.” He said angrily slapping his hands down on the drama lunch table. 

“And he hasn’t even asked our permission to join the drama club,” Taeil agreed.

“Someone’s got to tell him the rules.” Haechan looked at his fellow drama club members.

“Exactly…wait what are the rules?” Taeil asked. Haechan groaned and turned back to face the cafeteria. 

Down below him, Johnny and Mark were sitting with the other basketball players and a couple of cheerleaders at their usual table. Whilst Johnny was voicing his disapproval at Jaehyun’s secret audition, Mark was uncharacteristically quiet. When Johnny’s grumbling was met without response from Mark, he turned to look at the younger.

“What’s up with you today? You’ve hardly touched your lunch,” Johnny directed at Mark, catching the attention of the others at the table.

Mark finally looked up from pushing his food around his plate and sighed.

“You know I love basketball, right? But...but I have a confession my own secret obsession that’s making me lose control,” Mark’s voice increased in confidence as he spoke, looking around the table to see everyone staring at him intently. “If Jaehyun can tell his secret, then I can tell mine...I bake,” Mark announced.

The entire table was shocked but most of all Johnny. 

“What?!”, he exclaimed, but before he could protest further Mark continued.

“I love to bake! Strudels, scones, and even an apple pandowdy,” by now Mark was full on grinning despite the shock of the rest of his teammates. He didn’t let that deter him from letting his secret off his chest. “Someday I hope to make the perfect crème brulee!”

The basketball table erupted into noise, each voicing their disagreement with Mark’s confession. The commotion they were causing didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the cafeteria. 

Over on the nerds table, Jungwoo had been excitedly discussing the news of the call-backs, distracting the others from their homework. Finally, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. 

“When you look at me, what do you guys see?” He asked his friends around the table but only received confused expressions in return. “Intelligence beyond compare, right? But there’s a secret I really need to share”

Jungwoo bit his lip nervously and the others slowly put down their books, intrigued by what he was about to come out with. Their intrigue caused Jungwoo to jump up.

“Hip hop is my passion! I love to pop and lock and jam and break,” he said while demonstrating each of the moves, grooving to an imaginary beat.

The boy sitting closest to Jungwoo turned to look at him, slightly disgusted. “Is that even legal?” He asked, making Jungwoo shrink back down to his seat in disappointment. 

“It’s just dancing,” Jungwoo shrugged, “Sometimes I think it’s cooler than homework.”

This really annoyed the rest of his table, and the noise of the cafeteria rose even louder. All around people started to share their secrets. Chanyeol told his table that he played the cello, Seulgi announced that she loved knitting and Amber even told her friends she wanted to work for the police. The call-back announcement had changed everything. People no longer wanted to stay confined to the clique they felt stuck within. The students started to move around to other tables, mixing with people they didn’t usually associate with.

Haechan looked down angrily at what was occurring. “This is not what I want! This is not want I planned,” he moaned to Taeil. “I do not understand!”.

“Somethings not right-.” Taeil started to agree

“Really wrong!” Haechan cut him off. 

He had to do something about it before things got out of control. From his position above the crowds he shouted to the hall below for people to be quiet. In an instance the cafeteria fell into a silence. At the same time, Taeyong and Yuta started to make their way from the food queue to find a seat. The silence of the room drew attention to them, making people turn to stare at the pair.

“Why are people staring at you?” Taeyong naively asked Yuta.

The latter chucked. “Not me, you.”

Taeyong’s jaw dropped. “Because of the call-backs? I can’t have people staring at me I really can’t!”

The shock of having the attention of the entire room made Taeyong lose his appetite. He needed to be out of that cafeteria and fast. As he turned to leave, Taeyong slipped on a carton of milk that someone had dropped within the commotion before. As he fell, Yuta managed to steady him but his dinner was thrown up into the air before landing on the person behind him. The hall was silenced by a deafening scream, much like the one Taeyong had heard this morning as he entered the school. Sheepishly he turned around, to be met with the sight of Haechan covered in his French fries. 

“I am so sorry!” Taeyong said rushing forward to start wiping the mess he had made off Haechan. 

Sensing the anger radiating off of Haechan, Yuta quickly pulled Taeyong away so he couldn’t aggravate the other any further. 

Jaehyun who had arrived just as the food had landed onto Haechan also went to go help but he was stopped by Johnny.

“You do not want to get into that man… too much drama,” Johnny said pulling Jaehyun away to their table.

“What is going on here?” Mr Taemin asked, as he came up behind Haechan and Taeil.

“Look at this!” Haechan cried. “That boy Taeyong just dumped his lunch on me. On purpose! It’s all a part of their plan to ruin our musical. And Jaehyun and his basketball robots are obviously behind it. Why do you think he auditioned? And after all the hard work you’ve put into this show. It just doesn’t seem right.” Haechan stomped off quickly followed by Taeil.

“What’s up?” Jaehyun asked Johnny.

“What’s up? Oh, let’s see…um you missed a free period workout yesterday to audition for some heinous musical. And now people are confessing.” Johnny said gesturing around. “And Mark,” he says pointing to him sitting on the table, “Mark is baking… crème brulee.”

“Ooh what’s that,” Jaehyun asked intrigued, turning towards Mark.

“It’s like a creamy custard-like filling with a caramelised surface. It’s really satisfying,” Mark told Jaehyun excitedly.

“Shut up Mark,” Johnny responded, annoyed at Jaehyun’s interest in Mark’s baking. “Do you see what’s happening here?” He said to Jaehyun pointing to where Mark had gone to join Chanyeol’s table. “Our team is coming a part because of your singing thing. Suddenly people think they can talk to us! And do other stuff that is not their stuff. They’ve got you thinking about show tunes and we have a playoff game next week. Get your head in the game Jaehyun.”

When There was Me and You

Since telling his friends about his secret hobby, Mark had gained a new-found confidence. That was probably what compelled him to go up to Haechan as he was trying to find an outfit change, from his locker, at the end of lunch. 

“Um hey Haechan. I was just thinking that since Jung Jaehyun is going to be in your show-.” Mark started by Haechan cut him off by putting a finger up.

“Jung Jaehyun is not in my show.”

“Ok. Um…well, I just thought maybe you could come watch me play ball sometime or something.” Mark tried again.

Haechan laughed falsely. “I would rather stick pins in my eyes.”

“Wouldn’t that be awfully uncomfortable?” Mark carried on, still not getting the hint.

“Evaporate, tall person!” Haechan slammed his locked before storming off.

“I bake! If that helps,” Mark called after him.

…

“So, this is your private hideout?” Taeyong says upon spotting Jaehyun standing by the railings of the science club roof. “It’s like a jungle up here.”

“Thanks to the science club. This is my sanctuary away from the team, seeing as they hardly know the science labs exist.” Jaehyun replied still looking out over the views as Taeyong stands beside him.

“You pretty much have this school wired don’t you Jaehyun. Seems like everyone wants to be your friend.”

Jaehyun turns towards Taeyong. “Only if we win.”

“I guess it’s pretty tricky being the coach’s son.”

Jaehyun shrugs. “Makes me practice a little harder I guess. I’m not sure what he is going to say though when the he finds about the singing. People are always saying to my parents ‘your son’s the basketball guy, you must be so proud.’ Sometimes I don’t want to be the ‘basketball guy’, I just wanna be a guy, Y’know,” Jaehyun finished.

“I saw the way you treated Doyoung at the audition. Do your friends know that guy?” Taeyong asked.

“To them, I’m just the playmaker dude.” 

“Then they don’t know enough about you. At my other schools, I was just the freaky maths boy. It’s nice coming here and being anyone I want to be. When I sing with you I just feel like…a guy,” Taeyong confessed back.

“You even look like one too,” Jaehyun joked making Taeyong laugh. 

The two stood looking out at the view, just enjoying each other’s company.

“Do you remember in kindergarten how you’d meet a kid and within ten seconds you are best friends even though you knew nothing about them, because you don’t have be anything but yourself.” Taeyong turned to ask. Jaehyun nodded in response, eyes fixed to Taeyong’s. “Singing with you felt like that.”

“I never even considered singing until I met you.” Jaehyun told him.

“So, you really want to do the call-backs with me?”

“Hey, just call me freaky call-back boy.” Jaehyun joked, making Taeyong laugh again.

“You’re a cool boy Jaehyun, but not for the reasons your friends think. And thanks for showing me your top-secret hideout place. It’s like kindergarten again.”

The moment between the two was interrupted by the school bell ringing to signal the end of lunch. Jaehyun took Taeyong’s hand into his as they made their way back inside.

…

Jaehyun knew he was late for practice because he had been busy rehearsing with Taeyong but not so late he had missed it entirely. Alas, as he turned up Johnny and the others were already making their way to the showers. Johnny in particular did not look pleased at him, but no one was scowling as much as his father.

“Um I’m going to stay a little while and practice some free throws,” Jaehyun said, not meeting his father’s eyes.

“I think your team deserves a little effort from you today seeing as you missed practice today,” Coach Jung said walking out of the gym.

After a short while, Taeyong came up behind him.

“Wow. So, this is your real stage.” Taeyong joked making Jaehyun laugh.

“I guess you could call it that. Or just a smelly gym.” Jaehyun joked back, passing the ball to Taeyong. The latter takes a shot and manages to land the ball in the hoop pretty easily.

“Woah! Don’t tell me you’re good at hoops too.” Jaehyun sounds shocked.

“You know I once scored 41 points in a league championship game,” Taeyong said, scooping up the basketball and holding it close to his stomach. 

“No way.”

“Mm-hm. And on the same day, I invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn.” Taeyong joked. 

“Ohhh microwave popcorn. Haha very funny,” Jaehyun said sarcastically. He takes the ball that Taeyong passes to him and tosses it into the net. “I’ve been rehearsing with Doyoung and um by the way I missed practice so if I get kicked off the team it should be on your conscience.” 

“Hey, I wasn’t the one who told you to sing-.”

“Tae, chill I’m just messing.”

Taeyong grabs the ball away from Jaehyun whose laughing at him and starts to move away.

“Hey no that’s really bad travelling – that’s not allowed.” Jaehyun runs up behind Taeyong, picking him up and spinning him around both of them laughing.

“Mister! I’m sorry this is a closed practice,” Coach Jung tells them making them both stop laughing instantly.

Jaehyun is taken a back from the frosty tone that his father is using. “Hey dad, come on practice is over.”

“Not till the last player leaves the gym. Team rule,” Coach Jung responds, still just as frosty.

“Oh, I’m sorry sir,” Taeyong apologises trying to ease the tension.

“Um, Dad, this is Lee Taeyong.” Jaehyun tries to introduce the two and Taeyong holds out his hand to shake Coach Jung’s but the latter just ignores it.

“Ah. Your detention buddy.” 

Taeyong’s warm smile fades away at the rude tone that Coach Jung is addressing him with. “I’ll see you later Jaehyun. It was nice to meet you Coach Jung.” He quickly passes the basketball back to Jaehyun and runs out of the gym.

“Dad, detention was my fault not his,” Jaehyun tells his father.

“You haven’t missed practice in three years and then this boy shows up-.”

“That boy is Taeyong and he is really nice.” Jaehyun throws back to his dad.

“Well making you miss practice doesn’t make him very nice. Not in my book nor in your teams either.

Jaehyun’s voice raises when he responds to his father. “Dad he is not a problem. He is just a guy.”

“But you are not just a guy, Jae. You’re the team captain. What you do not only effects this team but the entire school. And without you completely focused we are not going to win next week. The championship games do not come along all the time. They’re special.” Coach Jung is slightly pleading by now.

“Yeah, well, a lot of thing’s make you special, Dad.”

“You’re a playmaker, not a singer, right?” 

“Did you ever think I could be both?” Jaehyun finishes before throwing the ball down and racing out of the gym, completely missing that Johnny and the rest of the team have been standing out by the door the entire time.

…

“What spell has this elevated-IQ tempter boy cast that suddenly makes you want to be in a musical?” Johnny askes Jaehyun. The two of them are in the library during the morning break. 

“Look I just did it, who cares?” Jaehyun throws back, more focused on finding a book for Spanish class than with arguing with Johnny.

The librarian comes up behind the two shushing them.

“It’s him Miss Kim, not me,” Johnny says innocently to the librarian before turning his attention back to Jaehyun. “Look, you’re a hoops dude, not a musical singer person.” Johnny passes the ball to Jaehyun who passes it back. “Have you ever seen Michael Crawford on a cereal box?”

“Whose Michael Crawford?”

“Exactly my point. He was the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Now my Mom has seen that musical 27 times, and she put Michael Crawford in our refrigerator. Yeah, not on it, in it. So, the point I’m making is that if you play basketball, you’re gonna end up on a cereal box. If you sing in musicals you’re going to end up in my mom’s refrigerator.” Johnny finished.

“Why would she put his picture in her refrigerator?” Jaehyun asked.

“I don’t know. One of her diet ideas, I don’t try to understand the female mind, Jae. It’s frightening territory. How can you expect the rest of us to be focused on the game when you’re off somewhere in leotards singing “Twinkle Town”?”

“Leotards? No one has said anything about leotards.”

“Not yet my friend but just you wait. Look we need you captain, big time.”

“Mr Suh,” The librarian tries to reprimand Johnny again.

“Look I tried to tell him, Miss Kim. Really tried.” Johnny holds his hands up in defence. 

…

Haechan and Taeil were walking down the corridor when Johnny and Mark crossed in front of them into the science room. Haechan pulled a face.

“Something isn’t right,” he told Taeil, clearly confused as how Johnny and Mark even knew there were science rooms. They got closer to the door, peering round the edge but couldn’t make out what Johnny was saying to Yuta and the rest of the scholastic decathlon team. 

“They must be trying to figure out a way to make sure Jaehyun and Taeyong actually beat us out. Now, the jocks rule most of the school already but if they get Jaehyun into the musical then they’ve conquered the entire student body,” Taeil said to Haechan.

“And if those science geeks get Taeyong hooked up with Jung Jaehyun, the scholastic club goes from drool to cool.” Haechan’s eyes widened. “Taeil we need to save our show from people who don’t know the difference between a Tony award and Tony Hawk.” His eyes narrowed again and he stalked away. 

Inside the science room, Johnny and Yuta’s conversation was coming to a close.

“So, you really think that will work?” Yuta asked Johnny.

“It’s the only way to save Taeyong and Jaehyun from themselves. So, we on?” Johnny replied.

Yuta nodded.

“Good so we start first thing tomorrow then.” Johnny finalised, the rest nodding along.

…

The next morning, Yuta came up to Johnny, handing him a laptop.

“So, my watch is 7:45 Mountain Standard time. We synched?” Johnny asked him.

“Whatever.”

“All right, we are on go mode for lunch period, exactly 12:05.”

“Yes Johnny, we’re go. But we’re not Charlie’s Angels, ok?” Yuta rolled his eyes at Johnny.

“A boy can dream, can’t he”

…

Jaehyun walked down the locker room corridor looking for the rest of his teammates. He stopped in the end room to find them all gathered round a table with photos, trophies and a laptop on.

“Kim Heechul, class of ’72. He was the MVP in the league championship game,” Johnny started holding a photo of a previous East High basketball player.

“Park Jung Soo, also known as “Leeteuk”. Captain and MVP of the league championship team.” Mark said holding up another photo.

“Shindong, ’95, led the Wildcats to back-to-back city championships. A legend.” Another player spoke up.

“Yes, legends one and all. But do you think any of these Wildcat legends became legends by getting involved in the school musical auditions just days before the league championships?” Johnny asked to the rest of the teammates. “No. They became legends because they never took their eyes off the prize?”

“Get your head in the game,” the rest of the team chanted in response.

“Now, who was the first sophomore ever to make starting varsity?” Johnny asked again.

“Jaehyun!” The team chorused.

“So, who voted him our team captain this year?” 

“Us!” The team chanted back to Johnny.

“So, whose gonna get their asses kicked in Friday’s championship game if Jaehyun is worried about an audition?” Johnny finally asks the team.

“We are.” The team replied less enthusiastically.

“Guy c’mon there are 12 people on this team, not just me.” Jaehyun argued back.

“Just 12? Oh no I think you’re forgetting a very important 13th member of our squad.” Johnny handed Jaehyun a photo graph. “Wildcat basketball champion, class of 1981. Champion, father and now coach. It’s a winning tradition like no other.” 

Jaehyun looked down at the framed photo in his hand of his dad back when he played on the East High basketball team.

“Guys if you don’t know that I’ll put 110% of my guts into this game, then you don’t know me,” Jaehyun said angrily.

“But we just thought-.” Johnny tried to say before being cut off.

“I’ll tell you what I thought. I thought you were my friend. Win together, lose together teammates.”

“But suddenly the boy…and the singing.”

“Man, I’m for the team. I’ve always been for the team.” Jaehyun said passionately. “He is just someone I met. All right the singing thing is nothing. Probably just a way to keep my nerves down. I don’t know. It means nothing to me. You’re my guys and this is our team. Taeyong is not important. I’ll forget about him, I’ll forget about the audition and we’ll go out and get that championship. Everyone happy now?” Jaehyun’s little speech ends causing the team to break into smiles and cheers. 

“What team?” Johnny shouts.

“Wildcats!” The team responds, Jaehyun included. They make their way out of the locker room to the corridors, creating noise and commotion as they go and causing other students to join in.

Over in the science room however, Taeyong had just seen Jaehyun’s outburst from the laptop screen that Yuta had been showing him. 

“Behold, the lunkhead basketball man. Evolution has lead us to end up with spoiled, overpaid, bonehead athletes who contribute little to civilization other than slam dunks and touchdowns. That is the inevitable path of Jung Jaehyun. But the path we are on, the path of the mind, has led us to the excellency that are Eleanor Roosevelt, Marie Curie, Michelle Obama and many others who the world reveres,” Yuta passionately was explaining, oblivious to the tears that had started rolling down Taeyong’s face. “So, we would love to have you on our scholastic decathlon team.” He turns towards Taeyong. “Did you wanna go grab some lunch?”

Taeyong shakes his head, not meeting Yuta’s eyes.

“Okay, well we’ll be there if you wanna come.” Yuta says getting up and packing his laptop up before heading to the cafeteria.

Taeyong slowly walks over to the window where he sees Jaehyun and the rest of the team outside, surrounded by cheerleaders and other students all excitedly cheering and dancing. The call of ‘Wildcats’ can be heard all over the school. 

…

Taeyong is at his locker at the end of lunch, getting his books for the rest of the day when Jaehyun comes up to him.

“Hey, how you doing? There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Jaehyun says to Taeyong’s turned back.

Taeyong sighs and turns around. “And here it is: I know what it’s like to carry a load with your friends. I get it. You’ve got your boys, Jaehyun. It’s okay, we’re good.” 

“Good about what? I was about to talk to you about final call-backs.” Jaehyun asked confused.

“I don’t want to do the call-backs either. Who were we trying to kid? You’ve got your team and now I have mine. I’ll do the scholastic decathlon and you’ll win the championships. It’s where we belong.” Taeyong finishes closing his locker. “Go wildcats,” he says weakly. Taeyong hands Jaehyun his copy of the ‘breaking free’ lyric sheet before walking away.

Bop to the Top

Jaehyun and Taeyong run into each other in the cafeteria the next day. Jaehyun goes to say something but Taeyong just rolls his eyes and walks away. Ignoring the wave from Yuta for him to sit down next to him, Taeyong goes and sits at a table alone.

“Hey Jaehyun,” Johnny calls to the other who is just standing there watching Taeyong walk away. 

Jaehyun makes eye contact with Johnny but ignores his call and soundlessly walks out of the cafeteria instead. Taeyong, Yuta and Johnny all watch him go. The latter two look at each other worriedly. 

…

Johnny and Mark find Jaehyun up on the science club roof not even 20 minutes later.

“Hey um we just had another team meeting,” Johnny says to Jaehyun’s turned back.

“Oh…wonderful,” Jaehyun replies, sarcasm evident in his voice.

“We had a team meeting about how we haven’t been acting like a team. Not you, us I mean. Look, about the singing thing,” Johnny tries.

“Look, dude, I don’t even wanna talk about it.”

“We just want you to know that we’re gonna be there. Cheering for you.”

Jaehyun turns around confused. “Huh?”

“Yeah, if singing is something you want to do then we should be boosting you up not tearing you down!” Mark agreed.

“Win or lose, we are teammates. That’s what we’re about. Even if you turn out to be the worst singer in the world.” Johnny laughed.

“Which we wouldn’t know because we haven’t actually heard you sing,” Mark joked.

“And you’re not gonna hear me sing, guys. Because Taeyong won’t even talk to me…and I don’t know why.” Jaehyun said dejectedly.

Mark and Johnny share a grimace. Mark reaches into his bag, pulling out a bag of fresh cookies handing them to Jaehyun.

“We do. I baked these fresh today and you’re probably going to want to try one before we tell you the rest.” Mark tells him.

…

After school Yuta and Taeyong are in the science labs starting to practice for the competition on Friday. 

“Tae, we were jerks. No, we were worse than jerks because we were mean jerks. We thought Jaehyun and the whole singing thing was like killing our chances of having you on the team.” Yuta was explaining to Taeyong but the latter was focused on what he was writing on the board.

“I heard what he had to say. I’m on your team now. Done,” Taeyong replied.

“No, not done. We knew that Johnny could get Jaehyun to say things to make you want to forget about the call-backs. We planned it, I’m embarrassed and I’m sorry.” Yuta tried again.

“No one forced Jaehyun to say those things. And you know what? That’s okay. We should be preparing for the decathlon now, so it’s time to move on.” Taeyong turned back to the board.

Yuta was frustrated. “No! It’s not okay. The decathlon is whatever but how you feel about us and even more Jaehyun- that is what is really matters.” 

Taeyong didn’t respond. 

…

That night Jaehyun finds himself outside Taeyong’s front door hoping that he will be able to get through to him when they weren’t surrounded by everyone from school. He rings the bell and Taeyong’s mom opens the door.

“Hi Miss Lee, um I’m Jung Jaehyun,” he introduces himself, hoping that Taeyong’s mom at least has heard of him.

“Oh Jaehyun!” Miss Lee turns around to see Taeyong mouthing ‘no’ at her before he runs back upstairs. “Um…Taeyong is kind of busy with homework and such, so now is not really a good time,” she says kindly.

“I made a huge mistake Miss Lee and I would really like to let Taeyong know that. Could you tell him that I came by to see him?” Jaehyun pleaded.

Miss Lee smiled at him. “Yes, of course I will. Goodnight Jaehyun.”

Jaehyun smiled back. “Thank you. Yes, goodnight.”

After Miss Lee shuts the door on him he begins to walk away but then thinks he has to at least try one more time. Going around to the side of the house and standing under a big tree, Jaehyun gets out his phone and dials Taeyong’s number. 

“Hello?” Taeyong answers.

“What you heard, none of that is true. I was sick of my friends riding me about singing with you, so I said something things I knew would shut them up.” Jaehyun is looking up at the window above him as he talks and he sees a lamp turn on inside the room.

“You sounded pretty convincing to me.”

“Listen the guy you met on vacation is way more me than the guy who said those stupid things,” Jaehyun tells him through the phone.

“Jaehyun, the whole singing thing is making the school whack. You said so yourself. Everyone is treating you differently because of it.”

“Maybe because I don’t wanna only be the basketball guy. They can’t handle it, it’s not my problem, it’s theirs.” Jaehyun replies while looking for a way to get up onto Taeyong’s balcony.

“What about your dad?” Taeyong asks, tone softer than before.

Jaehyun pulls himself up into the tree, trying not to sound breathless as he responds and climbs. “It’s not about my dad. This is about how I feel, and I’m not letting the team down. They let me down. So, I’m gonna sing.”

There’s a pause from Taeyong, which Jaehyun uses to shimmy down the branch and onto the balcony, standing outside the doors.

“I don’t know Jaehyun.” 

“Well, you need to say yes, because I brought you something.”

“What do you mean?” Taeyong asks.

“Come to the balcony.” Jaehyun tells him. 

Taeyong walks over to the balcony doors opening them up to see Jaehyun standing there. They both hang up the call.

“This could be the start, of something new.” Jaehyun starts singing the song from when they met on the New Year’s Eve Party. “It feels so right to be hear with you, and now looking in your eyes. I feel in my heart, the start of something new.” He finishes, voice soft and quiet. Jaehyun reaches out the lyric sheet to Taeyong. “It’s a pairs audition.”

Taeyong smiles and takes the lyric sheet from Jaehyun.

“Okay.” 

…

The next few days are filled with practice for the championship game, the scholastic decathlon and the audition. Jaehyun and Taeyong are practicing in the music room with Doyoung when Haechan and Taeil walk past. The latter two freeze and Haechan gasps.

“They sound good,” Taeil says worriedly.

Haechan scoffs but goes to peek at the them through the window in the door. He sees the backs of the three boys around the piano.

“We have to do something.” He walks back towards Taeil. “Ok our call-backs are Thursday and the basketball game and the scholastic decathlon are on Friday…” Haechan says thinking aloud. He stops and gets an idea. “Too bad all these events aren’t happening on the same day…at the same time.” He says spelling it out slowly.

“Well that wouldn’t work because then Taeyong and Jaehyun wouldn’t be able to make the audition-,” Taeil is interrupted by a look from Haechan. “OH.” He smiles. “I’m proud to call you my brother.”

“I know,” Haechan responds.

The two quickly make their way to the auditorium where they know that they will find Mr Taemin hard at work before the call-backs. Haechan explains what he has been thinking, trailing behind Mr Taemin as he walks across the stage.

“I don’t want to hear about Jung Jaehyun and that Lee boy. So, if you’re telling me as the co-presidents of the drama club that changing the call-backs would be what’s best for our theatre program.” Mr Taemin pauses. “Then I might just have to agree with you.” Mr Taemin gives the two of them a look and walks away.

“Is that a yes?” Taeil asks Haechan and the latter responds with an exaggerated wink before strutting off singing their audition track. 

…

Doyoung is standing in front of the bulletin board when Jaehyun, Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta and Mark walk in the next day. Jaehyun stops them when he notices the look on Doyoung’s face and turns to see what he’s looking at.

“Call-backs the same time as the game?” He asks aloud.

“And the scholastic decathlon,” Taeyong says dishearteningly.

“Why would they do that?” Yuta asks.

“I smell a rat named Taemin,” Johnny says angrily.

“Actually, it’s two rats, neither named Taemin,” Doyoung says turning towards them.

“Do you know something about this, small person?” Johnny asks Doyoung.

Doyoung looks at Jaehyun and Taeyong. “Taemin thinks he is protecting the show but Taeil and Haechan are pretty much only concerned with protecting themselves.”

This angers Johnny. “Do you know what I’m going to do to those two over-moussed show dogs?”

Jaehyun holds out a hand in front of Johnny. “Nothing. We’re not going to do anything to them. Except sing, maybe. Now this is only going to work if we’re all in this together. Who’s in?” He asks scheming a plan and holding his hand out. 

Taeyong puts his hand on top of his, followed by Doyoung, Yuta, Johnny and Mark. Doyoung then puts his other hand on top of all the others. 

…

The auditions, game and competition all come around quickly. When Taeyong and Yuta walk into homeroom that Friday, Johnny, Jaehyun and Mark are waiting for them, with Mark holding something out to them 

“A pi pie!” He announces, holding in his hand a baked pie with the pi symbol on top in pastry.

“Oh, my goodness!!” Yuta gushes and Taeyong smiles thanking him. “We have something for you guys too.” Yuta tells them, pulling the chalkboard over towards them. 

“Oh…it’s an equation,” Jaehyun says, false praise evident in his voice, looking at the numbers and symbols all over the board.

Taeyong and Yuta laugh, flipping the board over to show a big poster that says, ‘GO WILDCATS’.

“OH!” The other three then chorus, slightly more excited than before. 

Taeyong and Yuta then start chucking foam basketballs at the three boys who quickly dodge out the way after being distracted by the sign. 

“Haechan, Taeil we have something for you guys too!” Johnny says, pulling the two of them over to stand in the doorway before running over to the rest of the team stood in a formation in the corridor.

“From our team to yours,” Jaehyun says. 

As each team member opens their jacket, a different letter is written on each of their t-shirts to spell out ‘GO DRAMA CLUB!’ with the exclamation point announced excitedly by Jaehyun.

Mr Taemin has been watching from behind Haechan and Taeil. “Well it seems we Wildcats are in for an interesting afternoon.”

As everyone makes their way back into classroom, Taeil stays in the doorway.

“Go Dra…go dra…go dray…drame?” He says to himself, struggling to work out what the t-shirts had just said. 

…

“How you feeling?” 

Jaehyun turns around to see his dad standing in the doorway of the locker rooms. “Nervous,” he replies, leaning against the lockers.

“Yeah, me too. Wish I could suit up and play alongside you,” Coach Jung says.

“Hey. You had you turn,” Jaehyun says jokingly.

“You know what I want from you today?” Coach Jung asks.

“The championship.”

“Well, that’ll come or it won’t. What I want is for you to have fun. I know all about the pressure. And probably too much of it has come from me. What I really want is to see my son having the time of his life playing the game we both love. You give me that and I will sleep with a smile on my face no matter how the score comes out.” Coach Jung finishes his pep talk, smiling at his son.

“Thanks Coach…uh Dad I mean,” Jaehyun smiles back. 

…

In their dressing room, Haechan and Taeil were doing their pre-performance warmup.

“Brr, brr, brr. Ma, Ma, Ma,” they made the sounds in tangent, warming their vocal chords. 

“Stop,” Haechan said holding one hand up. He then turned around and fell backwards in Taeil’s arms. “I trust you.”

“Energy,” Taeil said back. 

In the auditorium, Mr Taemin was stood in front of a crowd of about 15 students who had come to watch the call-backs. 

“Casting the leads of a show is both a challenge and a responsibility. A joy and a burden. I commend you and all other young artists to hold out for the moon, the sun and the stars.” Mr Taemin speaks to the small crowd gaining applause from both his freshman assistant and Doyoung. “Shall we soar together?” He moves back to his seat at the table in the front of the audience. “Haechan and Taeil. You are up!”

Breaking Free

Taeyong stands up in front of his chalkboard on the right side of the room with a girl from the other school on the opposite side. He’s up for the final question of the round. If they win this then they will be in the lead. The judge gives a gesture with his hand and the two of them race to be the first to solve the equation. He can hear the clock ticking in the background but he doesn’t let it put him off as he solves the equation with ease.

After just 2 minutes, 40 seconds Taeyong runs to his timer to stop it. The judge walks over and looks at his equation. He then points towards the East High side, indicating that they have gained the final point. Yuta jumps up and wraps his arms around Taeyong.

“We did it!” Yuta says excitedly. 

Taeyong goes over to the girl from the other team and shakes her hand congratulating her on a good job. He then sits back down next to Yuta who opens up the laptop in front of them.

“All right Wildcats, time for an orderly exit from the gym,” he says under his breath so only Taeyong can hear. He types out a code and hits send.

Just then the cylinder in front of them starts to bubble up and starts emitting an awful smell. All the team members start gagging and everyone leaves the room, giving Taeyong the exit he needs.

…

“And West High pushes the ball around the perimeter on the offensive end. Nice ball movement by West High. Driving the lane…shot is up…” The commentator is cut off by the lights and scoreboard that start flashing. The game buzzer is intermittently going off. “We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties, uh.”

The referee blows his whistle for a timeout and says that the game will have to pause. Johnny looks at Jaehyun and motions for him to leave. Jaehyun quickly runs out of the gym whilst the rest of the team huddle up.

“We’ll get this figured out real soon. In the meantime, per safety regulations, we need to make an orderly exit from the gym, please,” the principal announces.

The rest of the Wildcats quickly run out where Jaehyun has just left.

…

The performance and song finish with Haechan at the top of the ladder and Taeil just a couple of steps down. The small audience give them a round of applause and they take their bows, Taeil throwing his fedora into the crowd. 

“Do you see why we love the theatre, people!” Mr Taemin says beaming. “Now, Jung Jaehyun and Lee Taeyong?” He calls out but gets no response. “Jaehyun? Taeyong?”

Doyoung runs up to Mr Taemin from the side of the stage. “They’ll be here,” he says frantically.

“As I have said before, the theatre waits for no one, I’m sorry.” Mr Taemin points out causing Doyoung to run off the side of the stage. “Well we are done here then! Congratulations to all, the cast list will be posted soon.”

“Wait! Mr Taemin, wait! We are ready, we can sing,” Jaehyun calls out, him and Taeyong running down the auditorium. 

“I called your names, twice,” Mr Taemin points out.

“Mr Taemin, please,” Taeyong pleads, eyes wide.

“Rules are rules,” Mr Taemin says, finality in his voice.

The few people that were left in the audience are getting up to leave when hundreds of students pour in, Johnny and the team leading them. Haechan and Taeil come back out on stage. 

“We will happily perform again for our fellow student, Mr Taemin,” Haechan says looking at the crowd excitedly. 

“Ah…uh… I don’t know what’s going on here, but in any event, it’s far too late and you haven’t got a pianist,” Mr Taemin points out, trying to find an excuse.

“Well, that’s showbiz,” Taeil shrugs.

“We’ll sing without a piano,” Jaehyun tries but Doyoung runs up behind him.

“Oh no you won’t. Pianist here, Mr Taemin,” Doyoung says.

Haechan lunges forwards. “Oh, you really don’t want to do that,” he says to Doyoung threateningly.

“Oh yes, I really do. Ready on stage,” Doyoung stands up to Haechan, the look of shock evident on the latter’s face.

Mr Taemin turns towards Haechan. “Now that’s showbiz,” he laughs making his way back to his seat.

Haechan groans in frustration and runs off to the side of the stage, Taeil quick behind him. Doyoung gets in position behind the piano and Jaehyun and Taeyong are set up with microphones.

When Taeyong turns towards he the audience, he freezes. He’d been so caught up in all the drama he never really thought about the fact he would have to sing in front of all these people. He could see Johnny, Mark and Yuta clearly in the front row, which put him off even more. As Doyoung started playing the beginning notes his body filled with dread. 

But then the music stops. He can hear the crowd murmuring. Taeyong’s brain comes back into focus when he feels Jaehyun take his hand. 

“I can’t do it Jaehyun,” he whispers to him. “Not with all these people staring at me.” He turns to walk off the stage but Jaehyun lightly pulls him back.

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Jaehyun tells him, voice soft. “Right at me.” Taeyong’s big eyes look into his own. “It’ll be like the first time we sang together. Remember? Like kindergarten.”

Jaehyun nods to Doyoung to start playing again, and he begins singing, still holding onto Taeyong’s hand.

“We’re soaring, flying, there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach.” Jaehyun begins.

Jaehyun’s hand in his gives Taeyong the confidence to sing his own line. “If we’re trying, so we’re breaking free.”

When the song ends, the entire crowd erupts into applause but Taeyong is too busy looking at Jaehyun, the two of them smiling at each other. Jaehyun leans down and kisses his cheek. Jaehyun then gestures to Doyoung, who takes a bow to the continuing applause. 

We’re All in This Together

After the audition, the Wildcats still have a game to finish. 

“And its West High pushing the ball. Fast break looking for an open man. Oh, but it’s stolen by number 14, Jung, heading back the other way. East High has the ball. Time is running down on the clock. Looking for an open man. Fake. Swing to the outside. Ball on the perimeter. Look for a man on the inside. Nice screen. Shot’s up. And it’s good! A 12-foot jump shot as time expires for the victory. East High has won the championship! Your East High Wildcats are champions! Congratulations East High!” The announcer narrates the ending the game. 

As the trophy is handed to their team, the rest of the Wildcats lift Jaehyun up, chanting his name for making the final shot that won them the game. 

“What team?” Johnny calls out.

“WILDCATS”

“What team?

“WILDCATS”

“What team?” 

“WILDCATS”

“WILDCATS,” Johnny echoes.

“Get your head in the game.” The rest of the team chant back. 

When Jaehyun is placed back down, his dad comes up and pulls him in for a hug.

“I’m proud of you, son.” His dad tells him. 

“Thank you, dad,” Jaehyun beams.

Mr Taemin then walks past the two of them. “Bravo!” He says.

“Brava!” Coach Jung responds.

More and more students come up to congratulate Jaehyun on the win. Someone comes up and hugs him from behind.

“Congratulations, Wildcat!” Taeyong says to him, hugging him tight.

Jaehyun turns around to put his arms around Taeyong as well. “What about your team?”

“We won too!” Taeyong responds beaming up at him.

They both start to lean in when Johnny comes up between them obliviously handing Jaehyun the ball. 

“Yo! Team voted you to have the game ball, captain.” Johnny tells him excitedly.

“Yeah, well thank you. Thanks a lot,” Jaehyun calls after him sarcastically, as he gets swept back up into the crowds of people congratulating him.

Yuta runs up to hug Taeyong when Haechan and Taeil come over to the pair.

“Well, congratulations. I guess I’m going to be the understudy in case you can’t make one of the shows, so break a leg,” Haechan tells a shocked Taeyong. “In theatre that means good luck!” He laughs, causing Taeyong to laugh too. Haechan actually gives him a friendly smile at him as he walks away.

Before Haechan can get far, Mark comes up to him.

“Hey Haechan. I’m sorry you didn’t get the lead, I think that you’re really good. I admire you so much,” Mark smiles at him.

“And, why wouldn’t you? Now, bye-bye.” Haechan starts to walk away.

“Wait I baked you some cookies.” Mark holds a bag of freshly baked cookies out to Haechan who pulls a face and continues walking off. 

Taeil takes them instead, smiling. “Nice game!”

Mark smiles back and thanks him before walking over to where the rest of the Wildcats are gathered.

Jaehyun passes Doyoung the ball that Johnny gave him. “Composer, here’s your game ball. You deserve it playmaker.” 

The wildcats around them cheer and Doyoung awkwardly holds the ball. 

“Hey, here,” Johnny says coming over to him. He stands behind Doyoung and lifts his arms up, together they shoot the ball which lands in the hoop. The cheers start up all over again.

…

Long after the celebrations have finished Mark is still in the gym just thinking about the game. The doors at the back of the gym are thrown open.

“These cookies are genius!” Haechan shouts out. “The best things I’ve ever tasted. Will you make some more for me, Mark?” He asks rushing forward and throwing his arms around Mark.

“I might even make you a crème brulee,” Mark tells him, smile wide, which Haechan reciprocates. 

The End


End file.
